In its monthly serious accidents and high potential incidents figures for October, the Queensland government reported that fire-related incidents made up 40.2% of incidents, compared to the 12-month rolling average of 36.1%.

Overall, there were 176 incidents for the month of October compared to the 12-month rolling average of 186 incidents.

In one, a fire started in exhaust lagging on a Sandvik DD420-60C jumbo as it travelled up a decline.

The lagging had been impregnated with oil from a seal failure on the hydraulic oil cooler.

In another, a fitter assisting with maintenance on a Drill Tech D75K drill rig sustained burns to his hands, face and back when he was covered with flames and hot oil expelled from the main compressor when the drill was shut down.

A fire also started in an engine bay of a Cat D10 dozer when fuel leaked onto the engine from a hole in the return fuel line which developed from rubbing on a hose clamp.

The automatic fire suppression activated and extinguished the fire.

A small fire broke out in the engine bay of an Atlas Copco MT6020 dump truck when leaking oil sprayed on the radiator cooling fan, which pushed the oil onto the turbo.

The leak was from a reticulation pipe attached to the oil cooler, which was damaged when the oil cooler holding brackets failed.

Separately, when the normal ventilation circuit in an underground coal mine was re-established after being reversed to allow diesel machinery access, an explosive mixture of methane was drawn from the goaf.

Queensland’s underground coal mines endured a horror year for injuries, with a 60% increase year-on-year in the lost-time injury frequency rate to 6.8 per million hours worked for the 12 months to June.

Queensland Mine Safety and Health Commissioner Stewart Bell has warned mining operations they must improve their safety performance as the industry continues to grow and employs more inexperienced personnel.

In his annual report tabled in the Queensland Parliament, Bell said the number and frequency of injuries to mining industry workers across the board had increased significantly over the year but the underground coal situation was particularly disturbing.

“Queensland is recognised as having one of the safest mining industries in the world,” he said.

“However, I am concerned that one of the major safety parameters we measure – the lost-time injury frequency rate – is on the rise, particularly in underground coal mines.

“This is a large increase and a cause for concern.”